Altar of God should Memory be made of them in the Communion of the Body of Christ. In these words is couched one general Intendment of the Church For as the Holy Rite of the Eucharist was intended not only for the Peculiar Solemnity of the Churches Address to God here upon Earth with the Memorials of our Saviour's Passion the great Propitiation for the Sins of the World but also for Communion between our Head and the Members of his Mystical Body here upon Earth and also between the Members of his whole Mystical Body themselves so the Church in that Holy Solemnity hath always performed Acts of Communion not only with the Head but with all his Members both present in external Communion and Participation of the sanctified Creatures and with all absent whether in the Body or out of the Body by Commemorations Thanksgivings and Prayers And because they were in several States they were accordingly remembred distinctly in order which is what S. Augustin expresseth suo loco This Communion was by the ancient Christians reputed a matter of very great Importance and accordingly they were equally careful whose Oblations they did receive and whose Names they did remember whether Living or Dead and those who were ejected or rejected or refused were looked upon as out of Communion and excluded from all the Privileges of the Church both on Earth and also in the separate State according to our Saviour's Promise It was then believed that the Souls departed which should be saved were all indeed with Christ but not at the Right-hand of his Father but some before the Throne some upon Mount Sion some in the Holy of Holies some in the Temple but not in that place some in Paradice in Abraham's Bosom in the Third Heaven in very different Mansions or Receptacles as one may be said to be with the King who is with him in foreign Parts tho' but in his Army or at his Court tho' never admitted into his Presence Chamber and that by some the Church here upon Earth her self received much Benefit but others received Benefit by her Communion and Prayers and stood in need of it Nor ought we to think that these two Articles of the Holy Catholick Church and the Communion of Saints were put into the Summary of the Christian Faith and Profession and in the Order they are but for special and weighty Reasons and indeed such as are little taught or understood or regarded amongst us in this Age. S. Augustin hath many Testimonies concerning this matter of Fact and known Practice of the Church in these distinct Orders of Commemoration of the Dead so plain that the Arch-Bishop himself could not but confess that in the Church Service there was made a several Commemoration first of the Patriarchs Prophets Apostles and Martyrs after one manner and then of the other Dead after another pag. 194. and one or two he cites in the Margin but was so wise as not to recite the words It is Serm. 17. de Verbis Apost * Ideòque habet Ecclesiastica disciplina quod fideles noverunt cum Martyres eo loco recitantur ad altare Dei ubi non pro ipsis oretur pro caeteris autem commemoralis defunctis oretur Injuria est enim pro Martyre orare cujus nos debemus orationibus com mendari And Tr. 84. in Evang Johan This hath the Church Discipline which the Faithful know when the Martyrs are recited at the Altar of God in that place where Prayer is not made for them but Prayer is made for others who are commemorated For it is an Injury to pray for a Martyr to whose Prayers we our selves ought to be commended And Tr. 84. in Evang. Johan * Ad ipsam mensam non sic â—os commemoramus quemadmocum alior qui in pace requiescunt â—t et am pro eis or mus sâ—d magis ut crenâ— ipsi pro nobis ut eorum vestigiis adhaeâ—eamus quia impleverunt ipsi charitatem qua Dominus dixit non posse esse majorem At the Table it self we do not so commemorate them as others who rest in Peace that we should also pray for them but rather that they pray for us that we may tread in their Steps because they themselves have fulfilled that Charity than which our Lord saith there cannot be greater And here I cannot but take notice of the Partiality and Disingenuity of this magnified Man in this place for it is a Scandal and Offence to me Having cited the words of S. Augustin in Euchrid ad Laurent cap. 110. ‖ Cum sacrificia sive altaris five quarumcunque Eleemosynarum pro baptizitis defunctis omnibus offeruntur pro valdè bonis gratiarum actiones sunt pâ—o valdè malis etsi nulla sunt adjumenta mortuorum quaâ—â—icunque vivorum consolationes â—uâ—t That the Oblations and Alms usually offered in the Church for all the Dead that received Baptism were Thanksgivings for such as were very Good Propitiations for such as were not very Bad but for such as were very Evil altho' they were no Help for the Dead yet were they some kind of Consolations of the Living He calls this a Private Exposition not only as he pretends because it is not to be found in the Writings of the former Fathers but also because it suiteth not well with the general Practice of the Church which it intendeth to interpret p. 194. If it had not been in the Writings of any of the former Fathers had not the notorious Practice of the Church which he often mentions with special notes of the Notoriety of the matter of Fact been sufficient and much more than any thing mentioned dogmatically by others tho' more ancient But besides that is false for we shall see it hereafter attested by Cyril of Hierusalem and not by the by but in a professed Description and Explication of the Greek Liturgy which shews the Agreement of all both Greek and Latin Churches And therefore it is but reasonable that the honest Reader be admonished to beware of this Author how he trusts him for he is a partial and crafty Writer of which other instances may be produced But perhaps it may not only do right to S. Augustin but be a Satisfaction to the Reader to see him more fully declare his mind which he doth in the words precedent to this effect * Neque negandum est Desu ctorum animas pietate suorum viventium relevari cum pro illis sacrificium Mediaâ—oris offertur vel Eleemosynae in Ecclesia fiunt Sed eâ—s haec pro unt qui cum viverent ut haec sibi postea prodesse possent meruerunt Est enim quidem vivendi modus nec tam bonus ut non requirat ifta post mortem nec tam malus ut ei non prosint ista post mortem Est vero talis in bono ut ista non requirat est rursus talis in malo ut nec his valeat cum ex hâ—c
and eminent Sanctity was by the Importunity of the People made Bishop of Nola in Campania so that he also was every way qualified for another Witness in this Case and these two I suppose sufficient for their time especially for the Latin Church S. Paulinus in an Epistle to St. Augustin says as much as need to be in few Words that * Vacare non posse quòd universa pro Defunctis Ecclesia supplicare consuevit ap Aug. de Cura pro Mort. pr. It cannot be in vain that the Vniversal Church is accustomed to pray for the Dead Not the Church but the Vniversal Church not only did at that time but was accustomed so to do that is time out of mind without any known beginning And what was it accustomed to do Not barely to commemorate but to pray and supplicate for them Vniversa pro Defunctis Ecclesia supplicare consuevit As ample a Testimony I think as can be expressed in so few words S. Augustin in confirmation of this alleadgeth the Book of Maccabees and addeth ‖ Sed etsi nusquam in Scriptuâ— is veteribus omnino legeretur non parva tamen est Universae Ecclesiae quae in hâ—c consuetudine claret Authoritas ubi in preâ—ibus sacerdotis quae Domino Deo ad ejus altare funduntur locum suum habet etiam Commendatio Mortuorum S. Aug. de Cura pro Mortuis c. 1. But altho' we did no where at all read this in the ancient Writings yet is not the Authority of the Vniversal Church which is clear in this Custom a small matter when in the Prayers of the Priest which are poured out to the Lord God at his Altar the Commemoration of the Deceased hath also its proper place In this Testimony are divers things observable and very considerable 1. The Authority of the Universal Church not of a Particular Church of a City of a Province of Hippo or Africa but of the Universal Church which however manifested or declared is no small matter 2. But in this it is declared in the most Solemn Acts of the Church her most Solemn Address to Almighty God at his Altar So that here is the greatest Authority that is among Mankind and that most solemnly declared 3. It is no new Resolution but a Custom Consuetudo Vniversae Ecclesiae an ancient Custom and a universal Custom which he elsewhere upon another occasion expresseth in this manner * Hoc à Patribus traditum Universa observat Ecclesia ut pro eis qui in Corporis Sanguinis Christi Communione Defuncti sunt cum ad ipsum Sacrificium suo loco commemorantur oretur pro illis quoque id offerri commemoretur S. Aug. de verb. Apost Ser. 32. c. 2. This being delivered from the Fathers à Patribus traditum doth the Vniversal Church observe that for them who are departed in the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ when they are remembred at the Sacrifice it self in their place Prayer be made and it be commemorated that that is offered for them also Not only for the Living but for the Dead also and in their proper place 4. This Custom and Tradition was not only for a general Commemoration but for a special Commendation And here because this excellent Person hath written much and therefore affords more observable matter than is ordinary in any one Author I will indeavour out of him alone to present the honest and ingenuous Reader with a Scheme of the whole Custom and Practice of the Ancients whereby he will the better understand their Testimonies and decern the Fallacies Evasions Cavillings and Shufflings of the Adversaries of it What was done by them on behalf of the Deceased was either Publick or Private What was done in Private was Prayers such as S. Augustin offered for his Mother in his Confessions lib. 9. cap. 13. Fasting and Alms c. What was Publick was done either by the Relations or Friends of the Persons deceased and that was presenting their Oblations whether ordered by the Deceased or freely offered by their Friends on their behalf Which if they departed in Communion of the Church were received otherwise rejected unless they were in the State of Penitents and were surprized in such case as the Priest should have absolved them if he could have been present or what was done by the Bishop or Priest with the rest of the Clergy and People And this was either a general Commemoration pro omnibus in Christiana Catholica Societate defunctis as he speaks de Cura pro Mat. c. 4. for all departed in the Christian and Catholick Society or Communion without any particular recitation of their Names or a more particular Memory of them by Name with others or a more special Commendation of a particular Person at his Death and besides certain other days upon their Anniversaries And these were all performed at the Altar and with the Holy Sacrifice except that at his Death in case that happened after the Priest had eaten and then by some Canons it was to be performed solis Orationibus with Prayers only but otherwise Orationibus Oblationibus that is with Prayers and Sacrifice both for that is there to be understood by Oblationibus And as S. Augustin did intend all this in what he saith of the Universal Custom by Tradition from the Fathers so did he believe that the Souls departed were benefitted by them all For his words immediately preceeding those before-recited out of his Serm. de Verb. Apost are * Orationib vero S. Ecclesiae Sacrificio salutari Eleemosynis quae pro eorum spiritibus erogantur non est dubitandum mortuos adjurari ut cum eis misericordius agatur à Domino quam eorum peccata meruerunt It is not to be doubted that the Dead are helped by the Prayers of the H. Church and the Salutary Sacrifice and the Alms which are distributed for their Spirits that the Lord should deal more mercifully with them than their Sins have deserved This was one End and Benefit of those Commemorations and Prayers and therefore was not only comprehended in the general Intendment of the general Commemorations but was expressly prayed for both in the Common Prayers and in the more special Commendations as we shall see further hereafter but this does not exclude Others of which I think fit to take notice of one in this place which is mentioned by S. Austin and others and which concern two Articles of our Creed but little understood or consider'd amongst us It is in his Book de Civ Dei lib. 20. cap. 9. in these words †Neque enim piorum animae mortuorum separantur ab Ecclesia quae etiam nunc est regnum Christi Alioquin nec ad altare Dei fieret corum memoria in communione Corporis 〈◊〉 Christi Nor are the Souls of the Pious deceased separated from the Church which even now is the Kingdom of Christ Otherwise neither at the
living amongst us or they who were Witnesses before us and who held the same Tradition in the Church before us which they had received from their Parents and their Parents had learned from their Ancestors as the Church to this day observes the true and sincere Faith which it received with the Traditions from the Fathers In all this we may observe 1. The Practice of the Church both in the General Commemorations and in the Prayers agreed on both Sides 2. The End and Intendment of the Church that it was the Profit and Benefit of the Deceased also agreed 3. The Question between them Whether the Prayer of the Living could profit or benefit the Dead as the Church intended 4. That this was what Aerius did principally deny and therefore that the Practice was reasonable as a necessary consequence 5. His only reason was that it would make Piety and good Life needless 6. Epiphanius his Answer 1. from Reason 1. as it is a seasonable and excellent Declaraction of the Faith and Hope of the Church 2. as an Act of Charity for the Benefit of the Deceased 2. from Authority as received in the Church by Tradition from our Saviour and the Holy Spirit And now how does our great Man elude this Epiphanius saith he doth not Name this viz. That Prayers and Sacrifice profiteth not the depa ted in Christ an Heresie 2. Nor doth it appear that himself did hold that they bring such Profit to the Dead as these Men Dream pag. 236. 3. He doth not at all charge him with forsaking the Doctrine of the Scripture or the Faith of the Catholick Church but with rejecting the Order p. 237. 4. Aerius his Argument would have been in force indeed if the whole Church had held as many did That the Judgment after Death was suspended until the General Resurrection and that in the mean time the Sins of the Dead might be taken away by the Suffrages of the Living But he should have considered as Gobarus as great an Heretick as himself did that the Doctors were not agreed upon the Point p. 238.5 It was a foolish part in him to confound the Private Opinion of some with the Common Faith of the Universal Church 6. That he reproved this particular Error he did well but that thereupon he condemned the General Practice of the Church he did like himself headily and perversly ibidem As to the first of these I must refer the Reader to Epiphanius himself for the Character he gives of the Person and Opinions of Aerius a very Vile man a thorough-pac'd Arian and who exceeded Arius himself in his new Opinions which he imputes to the operation of the Devil though he doth not particularly name them Heresies yet it is plain he and S Austin too accounted them such and of the rest the Reader may judge by what is here laid plainly before him S. Ephraem was not much before these but because he was neither Greek nor Latin but a Syrian and a Man of Parts and extraordinary Sanctity greatly esteemed by the most excellent Persons of that time and of so great Reputation that his Writings were read publickly in divers Churches after the Holy Scriptures I cannot pass him by without taking notice of his Testament his Discourse to his Disciples upon his Death-Bed wherein he tells them he is Dying and desires to be mentioned in the Commemoration of their Holy Prayers and bewailing his Sins and declaring his Sense of the terrible Judgment of God he doth admonish exhort and strictly enjoyn them to remember him constantly after his exit and passage in their Prayers and after some Admonitions to them and account of himself he again desires to be remembred in their Prayers Then he strictly forbids his being Buried under the Altar or in the House of God all Solemn Pomp and Funeral Orations and Encomiums and all cost of rich Vestments of Grave Cloaths of Spices of Odors of Candles and the like but desires that all that Cost may be bestowed upon the Poor and for himself that in the place of all such Pomp and Funeral Orations they will accompany him with Psalms and help and assist him with their Prayers and Bury him in the Church-yard where the contrite in heart are Buried Then he bids them come near and imbrace him for his Spirit fails him and again intreats them diligently to make Oblations for him and prettily represents the Communion of Saints by a Simile of the Sympathy of things in Nature the Wine which flowers in the Cellar when the Vine Buds in the Vineyard and the like And tells them that the Oblations of Priests under the Law were effectual for those who were slain in their Sins and how much more the Priests of Christ under the New Testament And gives great caution that when they come to his Memory I suppose he means the Thirtieth Day which he expressly mentioned before and his Anniversaries ne quisquam in Sancta peccet that none commit any thing unmeet for holy things by any Excess but that the Vigil be kept attentively and reverently and humbly and holily and purely for it would be a miserable thing for him if by occasion of his Memory he should be accountable to his God for their inordinate Actions Thus this Holy Man an Instance equal to a very ample Testimony of the Practice in those parts About the same time was S. Cyril Bishop of Jerusalem He in his Mystagogick Catechism concludes all with a Description and Scheme of the Liturgy then in use wherein after mention of the Holy Trisagium Hymn * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Therefore saith he do we recite this Seraphick Theology delivered to us that in that Coelestial Hymnody we may communicate with the supra-mundain Militia the Heavenly Host and thus by such kind of Hymns sanctisying our selves we pray the most benign God that he will send out his Holy Spirit upon the proposited Elements that it may make the Bread the Body of Christ and the Wine the Blood of Christ. For certainly whatever the Holy Spirit doth touch it is sanctified and transmuted Then after that Spiritual Sacrifice that unbloody Worship is done that is after the Consecration and Oblation in Commemoration of the Passion of Christ over that very Host of Propitiation do we obsecrate God for the common Peace of the Churches for the Tranquility of the World for Kings for their Armies and Confederates for the Sick and Afflicted and in sum for all who need Help We commemorate also those who have fallen asleep before us First the Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Martyrs that God at their Prayers and Deprecations would accept ours Then we pray for the Holy Fathers and Bishops deceased and lastly for all who are deceased amongst us believing it to be a very great Help to the Souls for whom the Obsecration of that tremendous Sacrifice which is placed on the Altar is offered I will add but one instance more for the flourishing times of the Church